Systems and methods for switching operational modes based on audio triggers

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for enabling different modes of operation based on a detected audio trigger. The systems and methods may generate an audio signature for a detected first sound and compare the audio signature with a plurality of registered audio signatures. In response to determining that the audio signature matches a first registered audio signature, the systems and methods may enable a first operational mode for a device that enables a first plurality of commands. In response to determining that the audio signature matches a second registered audio signature, the systems and methods may enable a second operational mode for a device that enables a second plurality of commands, where the second plurality of commands are different from the first plurality of commands.

BACKGROUND

The use of smart voice assistant devices is rapidly increasing. A userwill commonly activate such devices by pronouncing a key phrase (e.g.,“Hey Siri”). As these devices become more integrated with users'everyday digital experiences, users may desire to activate these deviceswithout using key phrases, based on different detected audio triggers.However, it may be difficult for a system to determine without a keyphrase whether a command or a sound is meant for the system or is justbackground noise or conversation. Additionally, the system may requireprohibitively large amounts of processing power in order to continuouslylisten for a potentially infinite number of commands without a keyphrase to first enable the listening for those commands. As a result,potential command interpretation is difficult without significantlyincreasing processing power, and conventional systems continue torequire a key phrase in order to start listening for all commands.

SUMMARY

A system that uses context-dependent audio triggers to enable activationof a particular set of commands is desirable to reduce processing powerthat would otherwise be needed to listen to all commands at all times.Accordingly, systems and methods are disclosed herein for enablingdifferent modes of operation for smart voice assistants based ondifferent audio triggers, where an audio trigger may be a non-speechsound. Specifically, an audio signature for a detected first sound(e.g., an alarm sound) may be generated. The audio signature may becompared with a plurality of audio signatures. It may be determinedwhether the audio signature matches any audio signature of the pluralityof audio signatures. If it is determined that the audio signaturematches a first audio signature of the plurality of audio signatures, afirst input mode for a device may be switched to, where the first inputmode enables a first plurality of commands. In some embodiments, thefirst plurality of commands may comprise fewer commands than the totalnumber of commands. If it is determined that the audio signature matchesa second audio signature of the plurality of audio signatures, a secondinput mode for a device may be switched to, where the second input modeenables a second plurality of commands that is different from the firstplurality of commands. In some embodiments, the second plurality ofcommands may be different from the first plurality of commands andcomprise fewer commands than the total number of commands. Enablinglistening for certain commands and not others in response to differenttriggers saves processing power for the device (e.g., a smart voiceassistant) by requiring the device to listen for only a limited set ofenabled commands, rather than a potentially infinite number of commands.Additionally, enabling the device to listen for a set of commands basedon a context-dependent audio trigger (e.g., an alarm sound, or trainannouncement sound) enhances the user interface of the device byallowing a user to issue some context-appropriate command without theneed to utter a key phrase that would activate listening for allcommands, which would require a much larger processing powerexpenditure.

In some embodiments, a media guidance application may perform theactions necessary to enable a mode of operation based on an audiotrigger. The media guidance application may reside on a user'sequipment, on a server, on any other digital device, or on anycombination thereof. In some embodiments, these actions may be performedoutside of a media guidance application using a combination of hardwareand software.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, upon detectingan audio input, generate an audio signature for the audio input.Specifically, the media guidance application may generate a first audiosignature for a detected first sound. In some embodiments, an audiosignature may include a time-domain representation of the sound. Inother embodiments, an audio signature may include a frequency-domainrepresentation of the sound, e.g., a spectrogram. In one example, themedia guidance application may detect an announcement over the PA systemin a subway car and generate an audio signature for the announcement. Inanother example, the media guidance application may detect a microwavealarm sound and generate an audio signature for the alarm sound.

The media guidance application may compare the generated audio signaturewith a group of known audio signatures. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may compare the first audio signature with each of aplurality of registered audio signatures. For example, the mediaguidance application may compare the audio signature generated for thesubway car announcement with each of a group of registered audiosignatures. In another example, the media guidance application maycompare the audio signature generated for the microwave alarm sound witheach of the group of registered audio signatures.

The media guidance application may determine whether the generated audiosignature matches any of the audio signatures in the group of knownaudio signatures. Specifically, the media guidance application maydetermine, based on comparing the first audio signature with each of theplurality of registered audio signatures, whether the first audiosignature matches any of the plurality of registered audio signatures.For example, the media guidance application may determine whether theaudio signature generated for the subway car announcement matches any ofthe group of known audio signatures. In another example, the mediaguidance application may determine whether the audio signature generatedfor the microwave alarm sound matches any of the group of known audiosignatures.

The media guidance application may, upon detecting a match between thegenerated audio signature and one of the known audio signatures,retrieve a list of commands available in an operational mode triggeredby the generated audio signature. Specifically, in response todetermining that the first audio signature matches a first registeredaudio signature of the plurality of registered audio signatures, themedia guidance application may retrieve a first plurality of commandsassociated with the first registered audio signature. For example, themedia guidance application may, upon determining that the audiosignature of the subway announcement matches one of the group of knownaudio signatures, retrieve a list of commands associated with thematching known audio signature for the subway announcement. The list ofcommands may, for example, include a command to pause playback, acommand to retrieve and display walking directions to a destination, anda command to switch to an audio-only media asset.

The media guidance application may, upon detecting a match between thefirst generated audio signature and one of the known audio signatures,generate an audio signature for a subsequent audio input. Specifically,further in response to determining that the first audio signaturematches a first registered audio signature of the plurality ofregistered audio signatures, the media guidance application may generatea second audio signature for a detected second sound. For example,following the determination that the subway announcement corresponds toa known audio signature, the media guidance application may detect anutterance of the phrase “navigate to doctor's office” and generate anaudio signature for the utterance.

The media guidance application may determine whether the generated audiosignature for the subsequent audio input matches any of the retrievedlist of commands available in the operational mode triggered by thefirst generated audio signature. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the second audio signature, whetherthe second sound matches any of the first plurality of commands. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine whether the audiosignature generated for an utterance of the phrase “navigate to doctor'soffice” matches any of a command to pause playback, a command toretrieve and display walking directions to a destination, and a commandto switch to an audio-only media asset.

The media guidance application may, upon determining that the audiosignature of the subsequent audio input matches one of the retrievedcommands, execute the matching command. Specifically, based ondetermining that the second sound matches a first command of the firstplurality of commands, the media guidance application may execute thefirst command. For example, the media guidance application may determinethat the audio signature for the utterance of the phrase “navigate todoctor's office” matches the command to retrieve and display walkingdirections to a destination. The media guidance application may thenexecute the command, for example by entering the destination's addressinto a navigational application and displaying the results to the user.

The media guidance application may, upon determining that the audiosignature of the subsequent audio input does not match one of theretrieved commands, refrain from taking any action based on thesubsequent audio input. Specifically, based on determining that thesecond sound does not match any of the first plurality of commands, themedia guidance application may refrain from taking any action based onthe second sound. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the audio signature for the utterance of the phrase“navigate to doctor's office” does not match any of the commandsassociated with the audio signature of the subway announcement andrefrain from taking any action based on the utterance.

The media guidance application may, upon detecting a match between thefirst generated audio signature and another of the known audiosignatures, retrieve a different list of commands available in anoperational mode triggered by the first generated audio signature.Specifically, in response to determining that the first audio signaturematches a second registered audio signature of the plurality ofregistered audio signatures, the media guidance application may retrievea second plurality of commands associated with the second registeredaudio signature, where the second plurality of commands is differentfrom the first plurality of commands. For example, the media guidanceapplication may, upon determining that the audio signature of themicrowave alarm sound matches one of the group of known audiosignatures, retrieve a list of commands associated with the matchingknown audio signature for the microwave alarm sound, where the list ofcommands associated with the matching known audio signature for themicrowave alarm sound is different from the list of commands associatedwith the audio signature for the subway announcement. The lists maydiffer completely, meaning that the lists do not share any commoncommands, or the lists may differ in part, meaning at least one commandis in one list and not the other list. For example, the list associatedwith the audio signature for the microwave alarm sound may include acommand to pause playback, a command to resume playback, and a commandto increase volume of playback, while the list associated with the audiosignature for the subway announcement may include a command to pauseplayback, a command to retrieve and display walking directions to adestination, and a command to switch to an audio-only media asset.

The media guidance application may, upon detecting a match between thefirst generated audio signature and another of the known audiosignatures, generate an audio signature for a subsequent audio input.Specifically, further in response to determining that the first audiosignature matches a second registered audio signature of the pluralityof registered audio signatures, the media guidance application maygenerate a third audio signature for a detected third sound. Forexample, further in response to determining that the audio signature ofthe microwave alarm sound matches one of the group of known audiosignatures, the media guidance application may detect an utterance ofthe word “play” and generate an audio signature for the utterance.

The media guidance application may determine whether the generated audiosignature for the subsequent audio input matches any of the retrievedlist of commands available in the operational mode triggered by thefirst generated audio signature. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the third audio signature, whetherthe third sound matches any of the second plurality of commands. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine whether the audiosignature generated for an utterance of the word “play” matches any of acommand to pause playback, a command to resume playback, and a commandto increase volume of playback.

The media guidance application may, upon determining that the audiosignature of the subsequent audio input matches one of the retrievedcommands, execute the matching command. Specifically, based ondetermining that the third sound matches a second command of the secondplurality of commands, the media guidance application may execute thesecond command. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the audio signature for the utterance of the word “play”matches a command to resume playback, which is included in the list ofcommands associated with the microwave alarm sound. The media guidanceapplication may execute the command, for example by resuming playback ofmedia content on a user device.

The media guidance application may, upon determining that the audiosignature of the subsequent audio input does not match one of theretrieved commands, refrain from taking any action based on thesubsequent audio input. Specifically, based on determining that thethird sound does not match any of the second plurality of commands, themedia guidance application may refrain from taking any action based onthe third sound. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the audio signature for the utterance of the word “play”does not match any of the commands associated with the audio signatureof the microwave alarm sound and refrain from taking any action based onthe utterance. By selectively enabling only context-appropriate commandsbased on an audio trigger (for example, based on the microwave alarmsound, enabling only a command to pause playback, a command to resumeplayback, and a command to increase volume of playback), and disablingcommands that are not context-appropriate, the media guidanceapplication may achieve a significant reduction in power over theprocessing power that would be required to enable all possible commands.Additionally, since the power requirement is reduced, the user interfaceof the device is significantly improved by allowing the device toprocess at least some commands without the need for a user to pronouncea specific activation phrase that would enable listening for allcommands.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may only generate anaudio signature for a first sound to compare to known audio signaturesand enable an operational mode if the first sound is non-verbal.Specifically, the media guidance application may determine whether thefirst sound comprises speech. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine whether the frequency range of the first soundfalls within a human voice frequency range (e.g., 85 to 180 Hz for menor 165 to 255 Hz for women) to determine whether the first soundcomprises speech. The media guidance application may generate the firstaudio signature only if the first sound does not comprise speech. Forexample, the media guidance application may, upon detecting a microwavealarm sound is the first sound, determine that the microwave alarm sounddoes not comprise speech and generate an audio signature for themicrowave alarm sound. In another example, the media guidanceapplication may, upon detecting that a subway announcement comprisingspeech is the first sound, determine that the subway announcementcomprises speech and refrain from generating an audio signature for thesubway announcement.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may extractfrequency and average power information from a spectrogram of the firstgenerated audio signature for the first audio input. In someembodiments, the media guidance application (or any other combination ofsoftware and hardware) may generate the spectrogram of an audiosignature for an audio input by performing a Fourier transform (e.g., afast Fourier transform) on a time-domain representation of the audioinput. Specifically, the media guidance application may extract, from afirst spectrogram of the first audio signature, a first peak pointcorresponding to a first frequency and first average power. For example,the media guidance application may extract a first peak pointcorresponding to a first frequency and first average power from aspectrogram of the audio signature generated for the subwayannouncement.

The media guidance application may extract frequency and average powerinformation from a spectrogram of a known audio signature. Specifically,the media guidance application may extract, from a spectrogram of aregistered audio signature, a second peak point corresponding to asecond frequency and second average power. For example, the mediaguidance application may extract a second peak point corresponding to asecond frequency and second average power from a spectrogram of a knownaudio signature in the list of known audio signatures.

The media guidance application may determine a difference between thefrequency value of the first audio input and the frequency value of theknown audio signature. Specifically, the media guidance application maydetermine a frequency difference value between the first frequency andthe second frequency. For example, the media guidance application maysubtract the first frequency corresponding to the audio signature of thesubway announcement from the second frequency corresponding to the knownaudio signature, take the absolute value of the difference, anddetermine the result to be the frequency difference value.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine adifference between the average power value of the first audio input andthe average power value of the known audio signature. Specifically, themedia guidance application may determine a power difference valuebetween the first average power and the second average power. Forexample, the media guidance application may subtract the first averagepower corresponding to the audio signature of the subway announcementfrom the second average power corresponding to the known audiosignature, take the absolute value of the difference, and determine theresult to be the power difference value.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determinewhether the difference between the frequency of the first audio inputand the frequency of the known audio signature is less than a givenamount. Specifically, the media guidance application may determinewhether the frequency difference value is less than a first threshold.The media guidance application may, for example, retrieve the firstthreshold from storage or request the first threshold from a server. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine whether thefrequency difference value is less than a user-set threshold of, forexample, 10 hertz (Hz).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determinewhether the difference between the average power of the first audioinput and the average power of the known audio signature is less than agiven amount. Specifically, the media guidance application may determinewhether the power difference value is less than a second threshold. Themedia guidance application may, for example, retrieve the secondthreshold from storage or request the second threshold from a server.For example, the media guidance application may determine whether thepower difference value is less than a system-defined threshold of, forexample, 5 decibels (dB).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, upondetermining that both the frequency difference value is less than agiven amount and the power difference value is less than another givenamount, determine that the audio signature of the first audio inputmatches the known audio signature. Specifically, based on determiningthat both the frequency difference value is less than a first thresholdand the power difference value is less than a second threshold, themedia guidance application may determine that the first audio signaturematches a registered audio signature of the plurality of registeredaudio signatures. For example, based on determining that the frequencydifference value and the power difference value for the subwayannouncement and the known audio signature are both under a respectivethreshold, the media guidance application may determine that the audiosignature for the subway announcement matches the known signature.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate arequest for the commands associated with the first audio signature ofthe first audio input. Specifically, the media guidance application maygenerate a request for the first plurality of commands, wherein therequest includes an identifier of the first registered audio signature.For example, the media guidance application may generate a request thatincludes an identifier of the first registered audio signature thatmatched the audio signature of the subway announcement. The identifiermay be, for example, an alphanumeric string or a hexadecimal code. Inanother example, the identifier may be an encoded version of the firstregistered audio signature.

The media guidance application may transmit the request for the commandsassociated with the first audio signature of the first audio input.Specifically, the media guidance application may transmit the request toa database that stores registered audio signatures and correspondingcommands. For example, the media guidance application may transmit therequest to a database that has a first entry, where the first entrycomprises the first registered audio signature matching the audiosignature of the subway announcement and a first list of associatedcommands. For example, the database may have an entry comprising theregistered audio signature matching the subway announcement and a listof commands including a command to pause playback, a command to retrieveand display walking directions to a destination, and a command to switchto an audio-only media asset.

The media guidance application may receive the requested commands.Specifically, the media guidance application may receive, in response tothe request, the first plurality of commands associated with the firstregistered audio signature. For example, the media guidance applicationmay receive the list of commands associated with the first registeredaudio signature matching the audio signature of the subway announcement.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive a datastructure including the first registered audio signature and thecorresponding commands. Specifically, the media guidance application mayreceive a data structure for the first registered audio signature, wherethe data structure comprises a first field for the first registeredaudio signature and a second field that comprises a plurality of commandaudio signatures, each for a corresponding command in the plurality ofcommands. For example, the media guidance application may receive a datastructure including a first field for the first registered audiosignature that matches the subway announcement audio signature and asecond field comprising audio signatures of commands corresponding tothe first registered audio signature.

The media guidance application may retrieve each command from thereceived data structure. Specifically, the media guidance applicationmay retrieve, from the second field of the data structure, each of theplurality of command audio signatures. For example, the media guidanceapplication may iterate through the audio signatures of commandscorresponding to the first registered audio signature and store eachcommand audio signature in local memory.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determinewhether the subsequent audio input matches any of the retrieved commandsassociated with the first audio input by comparing the audio signatureof the subsequent audio input with the audio signature of each command.Specifically, the media guidance application may determine whether thesecond sound matches any of the first plurality of commands by comparingthe second audio signature for the second sound with each of theplurality of command audio signatures. For example, the media guidanceapplication may iterate through the list of command audio signatures andcompare each one with the audio signature of the subsequent audio inputto determine whether there is a match. The media guidance applicationmay compare the audio signatures by determining whether the frequencydifference of peak points of the audio signatures and the average powerdifference of peak points of the audio signatures are below respectivethresholds.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive adatabase entry that includes the command and a corresponding action.Specifically, the media guidance application may receive a databaseentry associated with the first command, wherein the database entrycomprises the second audio signature and a corresponding action. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a database entrycomprising the audio signature of the utterance of the word “play” andthe corresponding action of resuming playback of media content on adevice.

The media guidance application may retrieve the action from the databaseentry. Specifically, the media guidance application may retrieve, fromthe database entry, the corresponding action. For example, the mediaguidance application may retrieve the action of resuming playback ofmedia content on a device and add it to a queue of actions to perform.In some embodiments, the action may comprise a set of instructions orroutines.

The media guidance application may perform the action. Specifically, themedia guidance application may perform the corresponding action. Forexample, the media guidance application may resume playback of mediacontent on a user device.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine thatthe first audio input is not known to the system. Specifically, themedia guidance application may determine, based on comparing the firstaudio signature with each of the plurality of registered audiosignatures, that the first audio signature does not match any of theplurality of registered audio signatures. For example, the mediaguidance application may compare the sound of a fire alarm to each ofthe known audio signatures and determine that the sound has not beenregistered as a known audio signature.

The media guidance application may provide the user with an option toregister the unknown sound. Specifically, the media guidance applicationmay generate for display, to a user, an option to store the first audiosignature in the plurality of registered audio signatures. For example,the media guidance application may display, in a notification to theuser, an option to register the sound of the fire alarm. The sound maybe embedded in the notification so the user may play back the sound.

The media guidance application may determine whether the user hasdecided to register the unknown sound. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may determine whether the user has selected the option. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine whether an inputassociated with the notification (e.g., a touchscreen button) has beenselected by the user.

The media guidance application may display a list of potential commandsfor the user to select to associate with the unknown sound.Specifically, based on determining that the user has selected theoption, the media guidance application may generate for display a listof registered commands to associate with the first audio signature. Forexample, the media guidance application may display a list of commandsfrom which the user can select a command to associate with the firealarm sound. The list may include, for example, a command to make aphone call (e.g., to 911) and a command to turn on lights connected to asmart home system.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may identify acategory for the unknown sound. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may determine a category for the first audio signature,based on characteristics of the first audio signature. For example, themedia guidance application may determine, from a spectrogram of the firealarm sound, that the fire alarm sound falls under an “alarms” category.

The media guidance application may retrieve commands associated with thecategory of the unknown sound. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve a plurality of registered commands associatedwith the category. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve a list of commands associated with the “alarms” category, suchas a command to pause media playback, a command to rewind media contentby 30 seconds, a command to increase media playback volume, a command tomake a phone call (e.g., to 911), a command to turn on lights connectedto a smart home system, and a command to turn on a coffeemaker.

The media guidance application may display the commands associated withthe category of the unknown sound to the user. Specifically, the mediaguidance application may generate for display a list of each of theplurality of registered commands. For example, the media guidanceapplication may display the list of commands associated with the“alarms” category on the user's device display screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative perspective view of a system for enablingdifferent modes of operation based on an audio trigger, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative perspective view of a system forenabling different modes of operation based on an audio trigger, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows illustrative examples of a user equipment device, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process for enabling a mode of operationbased on an audio trigger, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for enabling different modes ofoperation based on an audio trigger, in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process for determining whether a first audiosignature matches any of a plurality of registered audio signatures, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process for retrieving a first plurality ofcommands associated with a first registered audio signature, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process for determining whether a secondsound matches a retrieved plurality of commands and executing an actioncorresponding to the matching command, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process for providing a user with the optionto register an unregistered audio signature, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for enabling different modes ofoperation based on different audio triggers. A voice-activated devicemay detect a first sound, such as a PA system announcement or an alarmringing. Users often react to certain environmental sounds by changingan aspect of how they are using their digital devices (for example, bychanging playback settings of a video they are watching). For example, auser who watches videos on their mobile phone while riding the subwaymay consistently perform one of a given set of actions upon approachingtheir destination stop (for example, marked by a PA system announcementsuch as “The next stop is Fulton Street”). The set of actions may be,for example, pausing playback of a video, navigating to a destination,or switching from video playback to audio-only playback.

A voice-activated device may compare the detected first sound, such asthe PA system announcement, with a set of registered sounds, where eachregistered sound enables a different operational mode, and eachoperational mode enables listening for a unique set of commands. If thedetected first sound matches a registered sound, the systems and methodsmay retrieve the unique set of commands associated with the registeredsound and switch to an operational mode enabled to listen for thosecommands. A voice-activated device may take action if one of the enabledcommands is detected. For example, if one of the enabled commands is topause playback, and the user says, “Pause,” the system may pauseplayback. A voice-activated device may refrain from taking any actionbased on a detected command that is not one of the enabled commands. Byselectively listening for only a small set of context-appropriatecommands, based on an audio trigger, the systems and methods may reduceprocessing power required for command detection. Additionally, the userof the voice-activated device gains an ability to issue certain commandsin certain situations without the need to pronounce an activating keyphrase that would make the device listen for all possible commands.

As referred to herein, the term “audio signature” may refer to any kindof a digital or analog representation of a sound. For example, an audiosignature may be a file, data, or data structure that stores time-domainsampling of an audio input. In another example, an audio signature maybe a file, data, or data structure that stores a frequency-domainrepresentation (e.g., a spectrogram) of an audio input. As referred toherein, the term “operational mode” may refer to a state of a device ora system where at least some capabilities of the device or the systemare enabled and at least some capabilities of the device or system aredisabled. For example, when operating in the first mode, a device orsystem may respond to at least some audio inputs and may refrain fromresponding to some other audio inputs.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative perspective view of a system for enablingdifferent modes of operation based on an audio trigger, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. For example, user 102 may bewatching a video on user device 104 on a subway car. Public address (PA)system speaker 106 may be issuing an announcement (e.g., “The next stopis Fulton Street”). User device 104 may detect the subway announcementand generate a first audio signature for the subway announcement. Forexample, the generated first audio signature may comprise a time-domainrepresentation or recording of the subway announcement. In anotherexample, the generated first audio signature may comprise afrequency-domain representation, such as a spectrogram, of the subwayannouncement. User device 104 may generate the frequency-domainrepresentation of the subway announcement by performing a Fouriertransform on a time-domain representation. In another example, userdevice 104 may transmit an encoded time-domain representation of thesubway announcement to a server and receive and decode afrequency-domain representation of the subway announcement.

User device 104 may compare the generated first audio signature for thesubway announcement with each of a plurality of registered audiosignatures. For example, the plurality of registered audio signaturesmay be stored locally on user device 104. In another example, theplurality of registered audio signatures may be retrieved from a remoteserver for comparison at user device 104. In another example, userdevice 104 may transmit the generated first audio signature to a serverthat compares, external to user device 104, the first audio signaturewith a plurality of registered audio signatures stored at the server.

User device 104 may compare the first audio signature with eachregistered audio signature by, for example, extracting a first peakpoint with a first frequency and first average power from a firstspectrogram of the first audio signature, and extracting a second peakpoint with a second frequency and second average power from a secondspectrogram of the second audio signature. User device 104 may determinea frequency difference value between the first frequency and the secondfrequency and a power difference value between the first average powerand the second average power. Based on the comparing, user device 104(or the remote server) may determine whether the first audio signaturefor the subway announcement matches any of the registered audiosignatures. For example, the first audio signature may be determined tomatch a registered audio signature if the frequency difference value isunder a first threshold (e.g., 100 Hz) and the power difference value isunder a second threshold (e.g., 20 dB).

User device 104 may determine that the first audio signature for thesubway announcement matches one of the registered audio signatures and,in response, switch to a first operational mode. User device 104 mayretrieve a first plurality of commands associated with the firstoperational mode. For example, the first plurality of commandsassociated with the first operational mode for the subway announcementmay include a command to pause playback, a command to retrieve anddisplay walking directions to a destination, and a command to switch toan audio-only media asset.

User 102 may utter, for example, the phrase “navigate to doctor'soffice.” User device 104 may detect the utterance as a second sound andgenerate a second audio signature for the second sound. In someembodiments, the generated audio signature may comprise a time-domainand/or frequency-domain representation of the sound.

User device 104 may determine whether the second sound matches a commandof the retrieved first plurality of commands associated with the firstoperational mode for the subway announcement. For example, user device104 may determine whether the utterance of the phrase “navigate todoctor's office” matches any of the list of commands comprising acommand to pause playback, a command to retrieve and display walkingdirections to a destination, and a command to switch to an audio-onlymedia asset. User device 104 may determine whether the second soundmatches a command of the retrieved first plurality of commands bycomparing frequency and power values of peak points of spectrograms ofthe sounds.

User device 104 may determine that the utterance “navigate to doctor'soffice” matches the command to retrieve and display walking directionsto a destination from the list of commands associated with the subwayannouncement. Based on the determining, user device 104 may retrieve anaction associated with the matching command and execute the action. Forexample, user device 104 may receive a database entry associated withthe command, where the database entry comprises a corresponding action.For example, a corresponding action to the command to retrieve anddisplay walking directions to a destination may comprise retrievingnavigational directions to the address of the destination and generatingfor display the directions on user device 104. User device 104 may thenexecute the action. For example, the action may comprise a set ofroutines for the user device to execute (e.g., query a contacts list forthe address of the destination, send a request to a remote server fordirections to the destination, receive the directions, and display thedirections on a user device display). User device 104 may execute theaction by performing the set of routines.

User device 104 may determine that the utterance “navigate to doctor'soffice” does not match any command from the list of commands associatedwith the first operational mode triggered by the subway announcement.Based on the determining that the utterance does not match any commandenabled by the first operational mode, user device 104 may refrain fromtaking any action based on identifying the second sound. For example,user device 104 may return to a listening state to detect another soundwhile still in the first operational mode. In another example, after aparticular period of time (e.g., 30 seconds) has passed, user device 104may return to a default operational mode (i.e., a listening state whereno commands are enabled).

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative perspective view of a system forenabling different modes of operation based on an audio trigger, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments,user 202 may be consuming media content (e.g., watching a televisionshow or listening to music) on device 204, which is connected via amedia guidance system to user device 206. User 202 may be the same useras user 102. User device 206 may be the same as user device 104described in the example above. For example, user device 206 may, upondetecting the subway announcement described above (e.g., “The next stopis Fulton Street”), switch to a first operational mode enabled to listenfor a command to pause playback, a command to retrieve and displaywalking directions to a destination, and a command to switch to anaudio-only media asset, as described above. Further, user device 206may, upon detecting a microwave alarm sound from microwave 208, generatean audio signature for the microwave alarm sound, compare the audiosignature for the microwave alarm sound with each of the plurality ofregistered audio signatures, as described above, and determine that theaudio signature for the microwave alarm sound matches a secondregistered audio signature of the plurality of audio signatures. Userdevice 206 may determine that the audio signature for the microwavealarm sound matches a second registered audio signature by comparingfrequency and power values of spectrograms of the audio signatures (forexample, as described above).

User device 206 may, in response to determining that the audio signaturefor the microwave alarm sound matches a second registered audiosignature of the plurality of audio signatures, switch to a secondoperational mode. User device 206 may retrieve a second plurality ofcommands associated with the second operational mode, where the secondplurality of commands is different from the first plurality of commandsfor the first operational mode. For example, if the first plurality ofcommands includes a command to pause playback, a command to retrieve anddisplay walking directions to a destination, and a command to switch toan audio-only media asset, the second plurality of commands may includea command to pause playback, a command to resume playback, and a commandto increase volume of playback.

User 202 may utter, for example, the word “pause.” User device 104 maydetect the utterance as a third sound and generate a third audiosignature for the third sound. The generated audio signature maycomprise a time-domain and/or frequency-domain representation of thesound.

User device 206 may determine whether the third sound matches a commandof the retrieved second plurality of commands associated with the secondoperational mode triggered by the microwave alarm sound. For example,user device 206 may determine whether the utterance of the word “pause”matches any of the list of commands comprising a command to pauseplayback, a command to resume playback, and a command to increase volumeof playback. For example, user device 206 may determine whether thethird sound matches a command of the retrieved second plurality ofcommands by comparing frequency and power values of peak points ofspectrograms of the sounds.

User device 206 may determine that the utterance “pause” matches thecommand to pause playback from the list of commands associated with thesecond operational mode triggered by the microwave alarm sound. Based onthe determining, user device 206 may retrieve an action associated withthe matching command and execute the action. For example, user device206 may receive a database entry associated with the command, where thedatabase entry comprises a corresponding action, and execute the action.For example, a corresponding action to the command to pause playback maycomprise determining that media content is playing back on device 204and pausing playback of the media content.

User device 206 may determine that the utterance of “pause” does notmatch a command from the list of commands associated with the microwavealarm sound. Based on the determining, user device 206 may refrain fromtaking any action based on the third sound. For example, user device 206may return to a listening state to detect another sound while still inthe first operational mode. In another example, after a particularperiod of time (e.g., 30 seconds) has passed, user device 206 may returnto a default operational mode (i.e., a listening state where no commandsare enabled).

By enabling different commands for different situations, the user mayquickly switch tasks or issue voice commands without the need for a keyphrase. Selectively listening only for commands that are relevant for asituation and ignoring commands that are not relevant for the situationalso reduces processing power consumption.

Users in a content delivery system desire a form of media guidancethrough an interface that allows users to connect to devices,efficiently navigate content selections, and give executable commands.An application that provides such guidance is referred to herein as aninteractive media guidance application or, sometimes, a media guidanceapplication or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. For instance, a mediaguidance application may run in the background of a user equipmentdevice and monitor a user's activity. In response to receiving a usercommand at the user equipment device (e.g., directed towards the mediaguidance application and/or any alternate application), the mediaguidance application may execute various processes that the mediaguidance application is configured to implement. A media guidanceapplication may also be stored on a remote server and may monitorseveral user equipment devices in real-time through the use of awireless/wired connection. The media guidance application may executeprocesses at any of the respective user equipment devices depending onthe user commands received at the respective user equipment devices.

Interactive media guidance applications may generate graphical userinterface screens that enable a user to navigate among, locate andselect content. As referred to herein, the terms “media asset” and“content” should be understood to mean an electronically consumable userasset, such as television programming, as well as pay-per-view programs,on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internetcontent (e.g., streaming content, downloadable content, Webcasts, etc.),video clips, audio, content information, pictures, rotating images,documents, playlists, websites, articles, books, electronic books,blogs, chat sessions, social media, applications, games, and/or anyother media or multimedia and/or combination of the same. Guidanceapplications also allow users to navigate among and locate content. Asreferred to herein, the term “multimedia” should be understood to meancontent that utilizes at least two different content forms describedabove, for example, text, audio, images, video, or interactivity contentforms. Content may be recorded, played, displayed or accessed by userequipment devices, but can also be part of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.Tivo.com, from other media guidance applicationsthe user accesses, from other interactive applications the useraccesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.), and/orobtain information about the user from other sources that the mediaguidance application may access. As a result, a user can be providedwith a unified guidance application experience across the user'sdifferent user equipment devices. Additional personalized media guidanceapplication features are described in greater detail in Ellis et al.,U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11,2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, andEllis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0174430,filed Feb. 21, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference hereinin their entireties.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows generalized embodiments ofillustrative user equipment device 300 and illustrative user equipmentsystem 301. For example, user equipment device 300 can be a smartphonedevice. In another example, user equipment system 301 can be a usertelevision equipment system. User equipment system 301 may comprise aset top box 316. Set top box 316 may be communicatively connected tospeaker 318 and display 322. In some embodiments, display 322 may be atelevision display or a computer display. In some embodiments, set topbox 316 may be communicatively connected to user interface input 320. Insome embodiments, user interface input 320 may be a remote controldevice. Set top box 316 may include circuit board 324. In someembodiments, circuit board 324 may include processing circuitry, controlcircuitry, and storage (e.g., RAM, ROM, Hard Disk, Removable Disk,etc.). In some embodiments, circuit board 324 may include aninput/output path. More specific implementations of user equipmentdevices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 4. Each one of userequipment device 300 and user equipment system 301 may receive contentand data via input/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 mayprovide content (e.g., broadcast programming, on-demand programming,Internet content, content available over a local area network (LAN) orwide area network (WAN), and/or other content) and data to controlcircuitry 304, which includes processing circuitry 306 and storage 308.Control circuitry 304 may be used to send and receive commands,requests, and other suitable data using I/O path 302. I/O path 302 mayconnect control circuitry 304 (and specifically processing circuitry306) to one or more communications paths (described below). I/Ofunctions may be provided by one or more of these communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 306. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 308). Specifically, control circuitry 304 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 304 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 304 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above-mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 4). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 308 thatis part of control circuitry 304. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 308 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 4, may be used to supplementstorage 308 or instead of storage 308.

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of each oneof user equipment device 300 and user equipment system 301. Circuitry304 may also include digital-to-analog converter circuitry andanalog-to-digital converter circuitry for converting between digital andanalog signals. The tuning and encoding circuitry may be used by theuser equipment device to receive and to display, to play, or to recordcontent. The tuning and encoding circuitry may also be used to receiveguidance data. The circuitry described herein, including for example,the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting,decrypting, scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may be implementedusing software running on one or more general purpose or specializedprocessors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneoustuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions, picture-in-picture(PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording, etc.). If storage 308 isprovided as a separate device from each one of user equipment device 300and user equipment system 301, the tuning and encoding circuitry(including multiple tuners) may be associated with storage 308.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 304 using user inputinterface 310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 312 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of each one ofuser equipment device 300 and user equipment system 301. For example,display 312 may be a touchscreen or touch-sensitive display. In suchcircumstances, user input interface 310 may be integrated with orcombined with display 312. Display 312 may be one or more of a monitor,a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device,amorphous silicon display, low temperature poly silicon display,electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, active matrix display,electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathode ray tubedisplay, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescent display,plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display, thin-filmtransistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 312 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 312.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry304. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 304.Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated with other elements of eachone of user equipment device 300 and user equipment system 301 or may bestand-alone units. The audio component of videos and other contentdisplayed on display 312 may be played through speakers 314. In someembodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown),which processes and outputs the audio via speakers 314.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on each one of user equipment device 300 and userequipment system 301. In such an approach, instructions of theapplication are stored locally (e.g., in storage 308), and data for useby the application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from anout-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, or using another suitableapproach). Control circuitry 304 may retrieve instructions of theapplication from storage 308 and process the instructions to generateany of the displays discussed herein. Based on the processedinstructions, control circuitry 304 may determine what action to performwhen input is received from input interface 310. For example, movementof a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated by the processedinstructions when input interface 310 indicates that an up/down buttonwas selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented oneach one of user equipment device 300 and user equipment system 301 isretrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to each oneof the user equipment device 300 and the user equipment system 301. Inone example of a client-server based guidance application, controlcircuitry 304 runs a web browser that interprets web pages provided by aremote server. For example, the remote server may store the instructionsfor the application in a storage device. The remote server may processthe stored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 304)and generate the displays discussed above and below. The client devicemay receive the displays generated by the remote server and may displaythe content of the displays locally on each one of equipment device 300and equipment system 301. This way, the processing of the instructionsis performed remotely by the server while the resulting displays areprovided locally on each one of equipment device 300 and equipmentsystem 301. Each one of equipment device 300 and equipment system 301may receive inputs from the user via input interface 310 and transmitthose inputs to the remote server for processing and generating thecorresponding displays. For example, each one of equipment device 300and equipment system 301 may transmit a communication to the remoteserver indicating that an up/down button was selected via inputinterface 310. The remote server may process instructions in accordancewith that input and generate a display of the application correspondingto the input (e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). Thegenerated display is then transmitted to each one of equipment device300 and equipment system 301 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 304. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

Each one of user equipment device 300 and user equipment system 301 ofFIG. 3 can be implemented in system 400 of FIG. 4 as user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406, or any other type of user equipment suitable for accessingcontent, such as a non-portable gaming machine. For simplicity, thesedevices may be referred to herein collectively as user equipment or userequipment devices, and may be substantially similar to user equipmentdevices described above. User equipment devices, on which a mediaguidance application may be implemented, may function as a standalonedevice or may be part of a network of devices. Various networkconfigurations of devices may be implemented and are discussed in moredetail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 3 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, or awireless user communications device 406. For example, user televisionequipment 402 may, like some user computer equipment 404, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 404 may, like some television equipment 402, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 404, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 406.

In system 400, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.Tivo.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 414.Namely, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, andwireless user communications device 406 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 414 via communications paths 408, 410, and 412, respectively.Communications network 414 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 it is awireless path and paths 408 and 410 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 408, 410, and 412, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 414.

System 400 includes content source 416 and media guidance data source418 coupled to communications network 414 via communication paths 420and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410,and 412. Communications with the content source 416 and media guidancedata source 418 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 416 and 418 withuser equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 are shown as throughcommunications network 414, in some embodiments, sources 416 and 418 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 408, 410, and 412.

Content source 416 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 416 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 416 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 416 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 418 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 418may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 418 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 418 mayprovide user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions that entice the user tokeep the particular service or source indicated by the score as one towhich the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 308, and executedby control circuitry 304 of each one of a user equipment device 300 and301. In some embodiments, media guidance applications may beclient-server applications where only a client application resides onthe user equipment device, and server application resides on a remoteserver. For example, media guidance applications may be implementedpartially as a client application on control circuitry 304 of each oneof user equipment device 300 and user equipment system 301 and partiallyon a remote server as a server application (e.g., media guidance datasource 418) running on control circuitry of the remote server. Whenexecuted by control circuitry of the remote server (such as mediaguidance data source 418), the media guidance application may instructthe control circuitry to generate the guidance application displays andtransmit the generated displays to the user equipment devices. Theserver application may instruct the control circuitry of the mediaguidance data source 418 to transmit data for storage on the userequipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry of thereceiving user equipment to generate the guidance application displays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices402, 404, and 406 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 400 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 4.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 414.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 416 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 402 and user computer equipment 404may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 406 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 414. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 416 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 418. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and wirelessuser communications device 406. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 404 or wireless usercommunications device 406 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 404. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 414. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 3.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as aresult of. For example, a first action being performed in response to asecond action may include interstitial steps between the first actionand the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly inresponse to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action beingperformed directly in response to a second action may not includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process for enabling a mode of operationbased on an audio trigger, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. In some embodiments, process 500 or any step thereof may beperformed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 3-4. Forexample, process 500 may be executed by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on a userdevice (e.g., user equipment devices 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) inorder to modify visual attributes of an input of a user input device. Inaddition, one or more steps of process 500 may be incorporated into orcombined with one or more steps of any other process or embodimentdescribed herein.

At 502, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)generates an audio signature for a detected first sound. For example,the media guidance application may detect a subway announcement (e.g.,“The next stop is Fulton Street”) as the first sound and generate anaudio signature via processing circuitry 306 for the first sound. Inanother example, the media guidance application may detect a microwavealarm sound as the first sound and generate an audio signature viaprocessing circuitry 306 for the first sound. In one example, the mediaguidance application may generate an audio signature by recording atime-domain sampling of the sound. In another example, the mediaguidance application may generate an audio signature by performing afast Fourier transform on a time-domain sampling of the sound to producea frequency-domain representation of the sound. The generated audiosignature may be stored in storage 308.

At 504, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)compares the audio signature with a plurality of audio signatures. Forexample, the media guidance application may compare the audio signaturewith a plurality of audio signatures retrieved from storage 308 and/ormedia guidance data source 418 via communications network 414.

At 506, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the audio signature matches a first audio signatureof the plurality of audio signatures. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the first audio signature matches one ofthe plurality of audio signatures if the frequency difference and powerdifference between peak points of the audio signatures are belowrespective thresholds. In response to determining that the audiosignature matches a first audio signature of the plurality of audiosignatures, process 500 proceeds to 508. Otherwise, process 500 proceedsto 510.

At 508, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)switches to a first input mode for a device, wherein the first inputmode enables a first plurality of commands. For example, the mediaguidance application may switch to a first input mode that enables acommand to pause playback (e.g., on user television equipment 402, usercomputer equipment 404, and/or wireless user communications device 406),a command to retrieve and display walking directions to a destination(e.g., from media content source 416 and/or media guidance data source418), and a command to switch to an audio-only media asset (e.g., onuser television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and/orwireless user communications device 406).

At 510, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the audio signature matches a second audio signatureof the plurality of audio signatures. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the first audio signature matches asecond audio signature of the plurality of audio signatures if thefrequency difference and power difference between peak points of theaudio signatures are below respective thresholds. In response todetermining that the audio signature matches a second audio signature ofthe plurality of audio signatures, process 500 proceeds to 512.Otherwise, process 500 proceeds to 502.

At 512, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)switches to a second input mode for the device, wherein the second inputmode enables a second plurality of commands that is different from thefirst plurality of commands. For example, the media guidance applicationmay switch to a second input mode that enables a command to pauseplayback (e.g., on user television equipment 402, user computerequipment 404, and/or wireless user communications device 406), acommand to resume playback (e.g., on user television equipment 402, usercomputer equipment 404, and/or wireless user communications device 406),and a command to increase volume of playback (e.g., through speakers314).

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 5 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 5 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for enabling different modes ofoperation based on an audio trigger, in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure. In some embodiments, process 600 or any step thereofmay be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS.3-4. For example, process 600 may be executed by control circuitry 304(FIG. 3) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on auser device (e.g., user equipment devices 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4))in order to modify visual attributes of an input of a user input device.In addition, one or more steps of process 600 may be incorporated intoor combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodimentdescribed herein.

At 602, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)generates a first audio signature for a detected first sound. Forexample, the media guidance application may detect a subway announcement(e.g., “The next stop is Fulton Street”) as the first sound and generatean audio signature via processing circuitry 306 for the first sound. Inanother example, the media guidance application may detect a microwavealarm sound as the first sound and generate an audio signature viaprocessing circuitry 306 for the first sound. The generated audiosignature may be stored, for example, in storage 308.

At 604, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)compares the first audio signature with each of a plurality ofregistered audio signatures. For example, the media guidance applicationmay compare the first audio signature for the subway announcement witheach of a plurality of registered audio signatures stored in storage 308or retrieved from media guidance data source 418. The media guidanceapplication may compare the first audio signature with each of theplurality of registered audio signatures by, for example, extracting apeak point comprising a frequency value and average power value from aspectrogram of each audio signature, respectively, and computing afrequency difference value and power difference value.

At 606, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the first audio signature matches a first registeredaudio signature of the plurality of registered audio signatures. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that the firstaudio signature matches one of the plurality of registered audiosignatures if the frequency difference and power difference between peakpoints of the audio signatures are below respective thresholds. Inresponse to determining that the first audio signature matches a firstregistered audio signature of the plurality of registered audiosignatures, process 600 proceeds to 608. Otherwise, process 600 proceedsto 618.

At 608, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)retrieves a first plurality of commands associated with the firstregistered audio signature. For example, the media guidance applicationmay retrieve, from storage 308 or media guidance data source 418, acommand to pause playback (e.g., on user television equipment 402, usercomputer equipment 404, and/or wireless user communications device 406),a command to retrieve and display walking directions to a destination(e.g., from media content source 416 and/or media guidance data source418), and a command to switch to an audio-only media asset (e.g., onuser television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and/orwireless user communications device 406), where these commands areassociated with the first registered audio signature matching the subwayannouncement.

At 610, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)generates a second audio signature for a detected second sound. Forexample, the media guidance application may detect a user utterance(e.g., “Navigate to doctor's office”) as the second sound and generatean audio signature via processing circuitry 306 for the second sound.The generated audio signature may be stored, for example, in storage308.

At 612, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the second sound matches a first command of the firstplurality of commands. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine whether the audio signature generated for an utterance of thephrase “navigate to doctor's office” matches any of a command to pauseplayback, a command to retrieve and display walking directions to adestination, and a command to switch to an audio-only media asset. Themedia guidance application may determine, for example, that the audiosignature generated for an utterance of the phrase “navigate to doctor'soffice” matches a command to retrieve and display walking directions toa destination. In response to determining that the second sound matchesa first command of the first plurality of commands, process 600 proceedsto 614. Otherwise, process 600 proceeds to 616.

At 614, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)executes the first command. For example, the media guidance applicationmay retrieve directions to the address of a destination from storage308, media content source 416, and/or media guidance data source 418 andgenerate the directions for display on display 312 and/or user inputinterface 310.

At 616, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)refrains from taking any action based on the second sound. For example,the media guidance application may return to a listening state to detectanother sound while the first plurality of commands is still enabled. Inanother example, after a particular period of time (e.g., 30 seconds)has passed, the media guidance application may return to a listeningstate where no commands are enabled.

At 618, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the first audio signature matches a second registeredaudio signature of the plurality of registered audio signatures. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that the firstaudio signature matches a second registered audio signature of theplurality of registered audio signatures if the frequency difference andpower difference between peak points of the audio signatures are belowrespective thresholds. In response to determining that the first audiosignature matches a second registered audio signature of the pluralityof audio signatures, process 600 proceeds to 620. Otherwise, process 600proceeds to 602.

At 620, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)retrieves a second plurality of commands associated with the secondregistered audio signature, wherein the second plurality of commands isdifferent from the first plurality of commands. For example, the mediaguidance application may retrieve, from storage 308 or media guidancedata source 418, a command to pause playback (e.g., on user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and/or wireless usercommunications device 406), a command to resume playback (e.g., on usertelevision equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and/or wirelessuser communications device 406), and a command to increase volume ofplayback (e.g., through speakers 314), where these commands areassociated with the first registered audio signature matching themicrowave alarm sound.

At 622, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)generates a third audio signature for a detected third sound. Forexample, the media guidance application may detect a user utterance(e.g., “Play”) as the third sound and generate an audio signature viaprocessing circuitry 306 for the third sound. The generated audiosignature may be stored, for example, in storage 308.

At 624, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the third sound matches any of the second pluralityof commands. For example, the media guidance application may determinewhether the audio signature generated for an utterance of the word“play” matches any of a command to pause playback, a command to resumeplayback, and a command to increase volume of playback. The mediaguidance application may determine, for example, that the audiosignature generated for an utterance of the word “pause” matches acommand to pause playback of a media asset. In response to determiningthat the third sound matches any of the second plurality of commands,process 600 proceeds to 626. Otherwise, process 600 proceeds to 628.

At 626, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)executes the second command. For example, the media guidance applicationmay pause playback of media content playing back on user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and/or wireless usercommunications device 406.

At 628, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)refrains from taking any action based on the third sound. For example,the media guidance application may return to a listening state to detectanother sound while the second plurality of commands are still enabled.In another example, after a particular period of time (e.g., 30 seconds)has passed, the media guidance application may return to a listeningstate where no commands are enabled.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 6 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 6 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process for determining whether a first audiosignature matches any of a plurality of registered audio signatures, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments,process 700 or any step thereof may be performed on, or provided by, anyof the devices shown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 700 may beexecuted by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by a mediaguidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., user equipmentdevices 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) in order to modify visualattributes of an input of a user input device. In addition, one or moresteps of process 700 may be incorporated into or combined with one ormore steps of any other process or embodiment described herein.

At 702, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)extracts, from a first spectrogram of the first audio signature, a firstpeak point corresponding to a first frequency and first average power.The spectrogram of the audio signature may, for example, be normalizedor weighted. For example, the media guidance application may extract afirst peak point corresponding to a first frequency of 130 Hz and afirst average power of 70 dB.

At 704, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)extracts, from a spectrogram of a registered audio signature, a secondpeak point corresponding to a second frequency and second average power.The spectrogram of the audio signature may, for example, be normalizedor weighted. For example, the media guidance application may extract asecond peak point corresponding to a second frequency of 155 Hz and asecond average power of 65 dB.

At 706, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines a frequency difference value between the first frequency andthe second frequency. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine the frequency difference value to be the absolute value of thedifference between 130 Hz and 155 Hz, which is 25 Hz.

At 708, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines a power difference value between the first average power andthe second average power. For example, the media guidance applicationmay determine the power difference value to be the absolute value of thedifference between 70 dB and 65 dB, which is 5 dB.

At 710, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the frequency difference value is less than a firstthreshold. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve thefirst threshold from storage 308 or media guidance data source 418. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine whether thefrequency difference value of 25 Hz is less than a first threshold valueof 40 Hz. In response to determining that the frequency difference valueis less than the first threshold, process 700 proceeds to 712.Otherwise, process 700 proceeds to 702.

At 712, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the power difference value is less than a secondthreshold. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve thesecond threshold from storage 308 or media guidance data source 418. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine whether the powerdifference value of 5 dB is less than a first threshold value of 10 dB.In response to determining that the power difference value is less thanthe second threshold, process 700 proceeds to 714. Otherwise, process700 proceeds to 702.

At 714, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines that the first audio signature matches a registered audiosignature of the plurality of registered audio signatures. For example,the media guidance application may determine, based on the frequencydifference value being less than the first threshold and the powerdifference value being less than the second threshold, that the firstaudio signature matches the registered audio signature.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 7 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 7 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process for retrieving a first plurality ofcommands associated with a first registered audio signature, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments,process 800 or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by,any of the devices shown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 800 may beexecuted by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by a mediaguidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., user equipmentdevices 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) in order to modify visualattributes of an input of a user input device. In addition, one or moresteps of process 800 may be incorporated into or combined with one ormore steps of any other process or embodiment described herein.

At 802, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)generates a request for the first plurality of commands, wherein therequest includes an identifier of the first registered audio signature.For example, the media guidance application may generate a request thatincludes an identifier of the first registered audio signature thatmatched the audio signature of the subway announcement. The identifiermay be, for example, an alphanumeric string or a hexadecimal code. Inanother example, the identifier may be an encoded version of the firstregistered audio signature.

At 804, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)transmits the request to a database that stores registered audiosignatures and corresponding commands. For example, the media guidanceapplication may transmit the request to media guidance data source 418via communications network 414.

At 806, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)receives a data structure for the first registered audio signature. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive the data structurefrom media guidance data source 418 via communications network 414. Themedia guidance application may, for example, store the data structure instorage 308.

At 808, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)retrieves, from a field of the data structure, each of the plurality ofcommand audio signatures. For example, the media guidance applicationmay retrieve each of the plurality of command audio signaturesassociated with the first registered audio signature that matched theaudio signature of the subway announcement and store the command audiosignatures in, for example, storage 308.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 8 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 8 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process for determining whether a secondsound matches a retrieved plurality of commands and executing an actioncorresponding to the matching command, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments, process 900 or anystep thereof may be performed on, or provided by, any of the devicesshown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 900 may be executed by controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by a media guidance applicationimplemented on a user device (e.g., user equipment devices 402, 404,and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) in order to modify visual attributes of an input ofa user input device. In addition, one or more steps of process 900 maybe incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment described herein.

At 902, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)generates a second audio signature for a detected second sound. Forexample, the media guidance application may detect a user utterance(e.g., “Play”) as the second sound and generate an audio signature viaprocessing circuitry 306 for the second sound. The generated audiosignature may be stored, for example, in storage 308.

At 904, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)compares the second audio signature for the second sound with each ofthe plurality of command audio signatures. For example, the mediaguidance application may compare the audio signature generated for anutterance of the word “play” with a command to pause playback, a commandto resume playback, and a command to increase volume of playback.

At 906, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)determines whether the second sound matches a first command of the firstplurality of commands. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine whether the audio signature generated for an utterance of theword “play” matches a command to pause playback, a command to resumeplayback, and a command to increase volume of playback. The mediaguidance application may, for example, determine that the audiosignature generated for an utterance of the word “play” matches acommand to resume playback. In response to determining that the secondsound matches a first command of the first plurality of commands,process 900 proceeds to 908. Otherwise, process 900 proceeds to 902.

At 908, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)receives a database entry associated with the first command. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a database entryfrom media guidance data source 418 an/or storage 308. The databaseentry may, for example, comprise a field for a command and/or commandaudio signature and a field for a corresponding action.

At 910, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)retrieves, from the database entry, the corresponding action. Forexample, the media guidance application may retrieve, from the databaseentry associated with the command to resume playback, a correspondingaction to resume playback of media content on a user device.

At 912, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304)performs the corresponding action. For example, the media guidanceapplication may resume playback on user television equipment 402, usercomputer equipment 404, and/or wireless user communications device 406.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 9 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 9 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process for providing a user with the optionto register an unregistered audio signature, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments, process 1000 or anystep thereof may be performed on, or provided by, any of the devicesshown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 1000 may be executed by controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by a media guidance applicationimplemented on a user device (e.g., user equipment devices 402, 404,and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) in order to modify visual attributes of an input ofa user input device. In addition, one or more steps of process 1000 maybe incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment described herein.

At 1002, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) detects a first sound. For example, the media guidance applicationmay detect a subway announcement of “The next stop is Fulton Street.” Inanother example, the media guidance application may detect a fire alarmsound.

At 1004, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) determines whether the detected first sound comprises speech. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine an averagefrequency of the detected first sound and determine whether the averagefrequency falls within a frequency range of human speech (e.g., 85 to180 Hz for men or 165 to 255 Hz for women). For example, the mediaguidance application may determine that the subway announcementcomprises speech. In another example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the fire alarm sound does not comprise speech. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may determine whether adetected first sound predominantly comprises speech or does notpredominantly comprise speech, where, in the latter case, though speechmay be present in the detected first sound, it is not considered apredominant or significant component of the sound. In response todetermining that the detected first sound comprises speech, process 1000proceeds to 1002. Otherwise, process 1000 proceeds to 1006.

At 1006, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) generates the first audio signature. For example, the mediaguidance application may perform a Fourier transform on a time-domainrepresentation of the detected first sound of the microwave alarm togenerate the first audio signature. The media guidance application may,for example, store the first audio signature in storage 308.

At 1008, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) compares the first audio signature with each of the plurality ofregistered audio signatures. For example, the media guidance applicationmay compare the first audio signature for the fire alarm sound with eachof a plurality of registered audio signatures retrieved from storage 308or media guidance data source 418.

At 1010, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) determines that the first audio signature does not match any of theplurality of registered audio signatures. For example, the mediaguidance application may determine that the microwave alarm sound doesnot match any of the registered audio signatures.

At 1012, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) generates for display, to a user, an option to store the firstaudio signature in the plurality of registered audio signatures. Forexample, the media guidance application may generate an option to theuser on display 312 and/or user input interface 310.

At 1014, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) determines whether the user has selected the option. For example,the media guidance application may determine whether an input associatedwith the option (e.g., a touchscreen button) has been selected by theuser. In response to determining that the user has selected the option,process 1000 proceeds to 1016. Otherwise, process 1000 proceeds to 1002.

At 1016, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) determines a category for the first audio signature, based oncharacteristics of the first audio signature. For example, the mediaguidance application may, based on frequency-domain (e.g., highfrequency/pitch) or time-domain (e.g., repetition) characteristics ofthe first audio signature, determine that the first audio signature isassociated with the category of alarms.

At 1018, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) retrieves a plurality of registered commands associated with thecategory. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve theplurality of registered commands associated with the category fromstorage 308 and/or media guidance data source 418. For example, theplurality of registered commands associated with the alarms category mayinclude a command to pause media content playback, a command to rewindmedia content by 30 seconds, a command to increase media contentplayback volume, a command to make a phone call (e.g., to 911), acommand to turn on lights connected to a smart home system, and acommand to turn on a coffeemaker.

At 1020, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304) generates for display a list of each of the plurality of registeredcommands. For example, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay the list of the registered commands on display 312 and/or userinterface 310. In some embodiments, the media guidance application maydetermine that the user has selected one or more of the displayedcommands. In some embodiments, in response to determining that the userhas selected one or more of the displayed commands, the media guidanceapplication may store the first audio signature in the plurality ofregistered audio signatures and associate the one or more selecteddisplayed commands with the stored signature.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 10 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 10 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 10.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be appliedto, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method for enabling different modes of operationbased on an audio trigger, the method comprising: generating a firstaudio signature for a detected first sound; comparing the first audiosignature with each of a plurality of registered audio signatures;determining, based on comparing the first audio signature with each ofthe plurality of registered audio signatures, whether the first audiosignature matches any of the plurality of registered audio signatures;in response to determining that the first audio signature matches afirst registered audio signature of the plurality of registered audiosignatures: retrieving a first plurality of commands associated with thefirst registered audio signature; generating a second audio signaturefor a detected second sound; determining, based on the second audiosignature, whether the second sound matches any of the first pluralityof commands; based on determining that the second sound matches a firstcommand of the first plurality of commands, executing the first command;and based on determining that the second sound does not match any of thefirst plurality of commands, refraining from taking any action based onthe second sound; and in response to determining that the first audiosignature matches a second registered audio signature of the pluralityof audio signatures: retrieving a second plurality of commandsassociated with the second registered audio signature, wherein thesecond plurality of commands is different from the first plurality ofcommands; generating a third audio signature for a detected third sound;determining, based on the third audio signature, whether the third soundmatches any of the second plurality of commands; based on determiningthat the third sound matches a second command of the second plurality ofcommands, executing the second command; and based on determining thatthe third sound does not indicate any of the second plurality ofcommands, refraining from taking any action based on the third sound. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein comparing the first audio signature witheach of the plurality of registered audio signatures comprises:extracting, from a first spectrogram of the first audio signature, afirst peak point corresponding to a first frequency and first averagepower; extracting, from a spectrogram of a registered audio signature, asecond peak point corresponding to a second frequency and second averagepower; determining a frequency difference value between the firstfrequency and the second frequency; and determining a power differencevalue between the first average power and the second average power. 4.The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the first audiosignature matches any of the plurality of registered audio signaturescomprises: determining whether the frequency difference value is lessthan a first threshold; determining whether the power difference valueis less than a second threshold; and based on determining that both thefrequency difference value is less than a first threshold and the powerdifference value is less than a second threshold, determining that thefirst audio signature matches a registered audio signature of theplurality of registered audio signatures.
 5. The method of claim 2,wherein retrieving the first plurality of commands associated with thefirst registered audio signature comprises: generating a request for thefirst plurality of commands, wherein the request includes an identifierof the first registered audio signature; transmitting the request to adatabase that stores registered audio signatures and correspondingcommands; and receiving, in response to the request, the first pluralityof commands associated with the first registered audio signature.
 6. Themethod of claim 2, wherein retrieving the first plurality of commandsassociated with the first registered audio signature comprises:receiving a data structure for the first registered audio signature,wherein the data structure comprises a first field for the firstregistered audio signature and a second field that comprises a pluralityof command audio signatures each for a corresponding command in theplurality of commands; and retrieving, from the second field, each ofthe plurality of command audio signatures.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein determining whether the second sound matches any of the firstplurality of commands comprises comparing the second audio signature forthe second sound with each of the plurality of command audio signatures.8. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining whether thefirst sound comprises speech; and generating the first audio signature,only if the first sound does not comprise speech.
 9. The method of claim2, wherein executing the first command of the first plurality ofcommands comprises: receiving a database entry associated with the firstcommand, wherein the database entry comprises the second audio signatureand a corresponding action; retrieving, from the database entry, thecorresponding action; and performing the corresponding action.
 10. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising: determining, based on comparingthe first audio signature with each of the plurality of registered audiosignatures, that the first audio signature does not match any of theplurality of registered audio signatures; generating for display, to auser, an option to store the first audio signature in the plurality ofregistered audio signatures; determining whether the user has selectedthe option; and based on determining that the user has selected theoption, generating for display a list of registered commands toassociate with the first audio signature.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein generating for display a list of registered commands toassociate with the first audio signature comprises: determining acategory for the first audio signature, based on characteristics of thefirst audio signature; retrieving a plurality of registered commandsassociated with the category; and generating for display a list of eachof the plurality of registered commands.
 12. A system for enablingdifferent modes of operation based on an audio trigger, the systemcomprising: communications circuitry; and control circuitry configuredto: generate a first audio signature for a detected first sound; comparethe first audio signature with each of a plurality of registered audiosignatures; determine, based on comparing the first audio signature witheach of the plurality of registered audio signatures, whether the firstaudio signature matches any of the plurality of registered audiosignatures; in response to determining that the first audio signaturematches a first registered audio signature of the plurality ofregistered audio signatures: retrieve a first plurality of commandsassociated with the first registered audio signature; generate a secondaudio signature for a detected second sound; determine, based on thesecond audio signature, whether the second sound matches any of thefirst plurality of commands; based on determining that the second soundmatches a first command of the first plurality of commands, execute thefirst command; and based on determining that the second sound does notmatch any of the first plurality of commands, refrain from taking anyaction based on the second sound; and in response to determining thatthe first audio signature matches a second registered audio signature ofthe plurality of audio signatures: retrieve a second plurality ofcommands associated with the second registered audio signature, whereinthe second plurality of commands is different from the first pluralityof commands; generate a third audio signature for a detected thirdsound; determine, based on the third audio signature, whether the thirdsound matches any of the second plurality of commands; based ondetermining that the third sound matches a second command of the secondplurality of commands, execute the second command; and based ondetermining that the third sound does not indicate any of the secondplurality of commands, refrain from taking any action based on the thirdsound.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry isfurther configured, when comparing the first audio signature with eachof the plurality of registered audio signatures, to: extract, from afirst spectrogram of the first audio signature, a first peak pointcorresponding to a first frequency and first average power; extract,from a spectrogram of a registered audio signature, a second peak pointcorresponding to a second frequency and second average power; determinea frequency difference value between the first frequency and the secondfrequency; and determine a power difference value between the firstaverage power and the second average power.
 14. The system of claim 12,wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when determiningwhether the first audio signature matches any of the plurality ofregistered audio signatures, to: determine whether the frequencydifference value is less than a first threshold; determine whether thepower difference value is less than a second threshold; and based ondetermining that both the frequency difference value is less than afirst threshold and the power difference value is less than a secondthreshold, determine that the first audio signature matches a registeredaudio signature of the plurality of registered audio signatures.
 15. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is further configured,when retrieving the first plurality of commands associated with thefirst registered audio signature, to: generate a request for the firstplurality of commands, wherein the request includes an identifier of thefirst registered audio signature; transmit the request to a databasethat stores registered audio signatures and corresponding commands; andreceive, in response to the request, the first plurality of commandsassociated with the first registered audio signature.
 16. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the control circuitry is further configured, whenretrieving the first plurality of commands associated with the firstregistered audio signature, to: receive a data structure for the firstregistered audio signature, wherein the data structure comprises a firstfield for the first registered audio signature and a second field thatcomprises a plurality of command audio signatures each for acorresponding command in the plurality of commands; and retrieve, fromthe second field, each of the plurality of command audio signatures. 17.The system of claim 16, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured, when determining whether the second sound matches any of thefirst plurality of commands, to compare the second audio signature forthe second sound with each of the plurality of command audio signatures.18. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: determine whether the first sound comprises speech; andgenerate the first audio signature, only if the first sound does notcomprise speech.
 19. The system of claim 12, wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured, when executing the first command of thefirst plurality of commands, to: receive a database entry associatedwith the first command, wherein the database entry comprises the secondaudio signature and a corresponding action; retrieve, from the databaseentry, the corresponding action; and perform the corresponding action.20. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: determine, based on comparing the first audio signaturewith each of the plurality of registered audio signatures, that thefirst audio signature does not match any of the plurality of registeredaudio signatures; generate for display, to a user, an option to storethe first audio signature in the plurality of registered audiosignatures; determine whether the user has selected the option; andbased on determining that the user has selected the option, generate fordisplay a list of registered commands to associate with the first audiosignature.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the control circuitry isfurther configured, when generating for display a list of registeredcommands to associate with the first audio signature, to: determine acategory for the first audio signature, based on characteristics of thefirst audio signature; retrieve a plurality of registered commandsassociated with the category; and generate for display a list of each ofthe plurality of registered commands. 22.-51. (canceled)